U.S. college students choosing Baja California school over state universities

U.S. college students choosing Baja California school over state universities

https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/d...y-gxc-0805.JPG[Kevin Gurrola, 27, a sophomore studying cybernetic electronic engineering, at Centro Enseñaza Tecnica y Superior University in Tijuana on Jan. 22, 2020. Gurrola now lives in Tijuana after attending three years at Cal State University Northridge. Tuition and living expenses made it impossible for him to continue his education there.
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)


About 300 Americans have passed up the expensive college programs in the U.S. for a more affordable education at CETYS

By WENDY FRY
FEB. 24, 2020 5 AM

TIJUANA — When California began cutting financial support for its state universities amid the 2008 financial crisis, colleges responded by raising tuition.

That’s when administrators at a private university in Baja California began noticing more U.S. students crossing the border to attend school.
The number has only grown.

Today, there are 337 U.S. citizen students at the Tijuana and Mexicali campuses of the Centro Enseñaza Tecnica y Superior University, known as CETYS for short. There is a third campus in Ensenada.

Most students graduated from Southern California high schools, but the college also has students from Texas, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, Illinois, Washington and New Jersey, CETYS administrators said.

Many of the students have family connections to Mexico, or to Tijuana in particular, school officials said.

In 2012, CETYS became the only university outside of the United States to get accreditation by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, which is the same accreditation held by the California State University system.

And the university recently started a business program in English, the first of its kind in the state.

https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/d...c-0427-jpg.jpg[CETYS University (Centro Enseñaza Tecnica y Superior) in Tijuana, Baja Calif., on Jan. 22, 2020.
(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)

Javier Martínez, a CETYS mechanical engineering freshman who graduated from Southwest High School in south San Diego, is among those who cross the border nearly every day to attend classes on the Tijuana campus.

“I got accepted to different universities in the U.S., but most of them were about $100,000 in difference,” he said about the school’s cost.

According to U.S. Department of Education data, the average annual in-state college tuition in California was $14,229 for the 2018-19 academic year.

Tuition at CETYS is only slightly less at $12,000 a year, but there is no requirement that students live on campus for their first year. That requirement at some state schools makes college less affordable for many students.

A resident of Chula Vista, Martínez said it takes him about an hour to make the daily southbound commute for school, and usually about an hour to return home on light traffic days.

“It’s not easy to cross the border every day,” he said, adding that was probably the most challenging aspect of going to school in Tijuana.

Even though Martínez already speaks Spanish, he said being taught in the difficult math courses for his engineering degree in that language was also somewhat of a challenge at first. But, he said, now he is used to it.

He said he feels the value of his education at CETYS, and the personal attention he is able to get from his teachers, outpaces what he could get from U.S. universities.

“The experience of getting to ask the teacher every question you have and them teaching you directly, that’s for me, the main point,” he said.

https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/d...c-0053-jpg.jpgRebeca Yañez, 20, of Chula Vista, is a U.S. citizen who decided to attend CETYS university in Tijuana. CETYS University is a private institution that is specifically targeting U.S. students looking for higher education in the face of steep tuition rates in Southern California. (Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)

Student Hector Arnazzi Cruz, who was born and raised in Tijuana, moved with his family five years ago to Los Angeles County in the Rancho Palos Verdes area.

After graduating from high school there, Arnazzi then moved back to Tijuana to study international business at CETYS with hopes of working in the aerospace business.

“I’ve wanted to do it since I was a kid. That, and be a pilot,” said Arnazzi, who said he could no longer pursue his dream of flying because of a health issue.

Now he’s pursuing one of the college’s unique programs that allows him to earn two degrees — one in the United States and one in Mexico.

“I would say compared to a Cal State or a UC, it is cheaper but the quality of the education is so good,” said Arnazzi, who said he will finish his two degrees in four years. “I’m acquiring all the skills and knowledge that I need to become a successful person in business.”

CETYS President Fernando León-García said the school is special because of the unique flow of southbound students and its location perched on the international border.

“Every day, roughly 1 million people cross the U.S.-Mexico border for everything from work to education.

Despite the political issues, border communities are bustling populations and economic centers,” said García, who has led the school since 2010, achieving institutional and program accreditation in the United States, such as WASC, ACBSP, and ABET.

“Because of our location close to the border, throughout the years, we have received students from Southern California who seek a more accessible education that is at a level of quality equivalent to what they would get in the U.S.,” he said.

According to school administrators, about 20 percent of CETYS graduates go on to work for nearby companies.

“The strong collaboration that CETYS has with multinational companies and the extensive study abroad opportunities offered to students are conducive to high employability rates,” said García, the university’s president.

The binational opportunities are part of what drew Arnazzi to the program.

“I have the advantage of getting opportunities in the U.S. as well as in Mexico and that obviously leads me to finding jobs in both places,” he said.

“When you’re an international business student, it’s pretty essential to have a global mindset.”

Martínez said some of his friends from high school don’t understand his decision to go to school in Mexico.

“To be honest, once you get to experience what Tijuana is really like, and what this city really is … it gives you a better and more open view of the possibilities that you could have in your life.”

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